A Hidden Opportunity for Microsoft Partners

For so many Microsoft Partners, particularly those who focus on tried and true services such as Managed IT Services, Microsoft is making a compelling pitch toward cloud-based services such as Office 365 and Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online. On the Office 365 side, this has landed well, with traction, and taken off running.

In fact, Microsoft earlier this year reported revenue around $10 billion for “Commercial Cloud,” much of which was Office 365, and which also reported a specific growth rate of 54% for that part of the cloud business.  Fantastic numbers – a great deal of this led by Microsoft Partners.  We see some partners, like our partner xRM, who count on cloud services as a large part of their businesses, appearing in such prestigious clubs as “Microsoft Inner Circle.”

And yet, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, while now firmly entrenched as an important component of the Office 365 landscape, continues to move along at a decent, but not head-spinning pace. And why is that?  We can imagine at least a couple of reasons:

• Learning Curve for Partners: Office 365 apps, while living in the cloud, are pretty familiar. If you create a clever Excel spreadsheet you are not going to have much trouble with the Office 365 version of your creation. Same for other apps that long-standing users are familiar with, and which Partners are fine with supporting.  Microsoft Dynamics CRM?  Not so much … as we know, the flexibility and robust features of CRM come with what some Partners find is a steep learning curve, with possibly months to get up to speed to perform their first deployment. Who has time for that?
• A 5 User Minimum: As we all know, there is no user minimum for Office 365. A partner can spin up an Office 365 account for a single user in minutes, and off they go for as little as $5.00 per month. One might think that Partners would be completely uninterested in such a microscopic SKU such as this, but most of them realize that behind that $5.00/user/month charge to Microsoft lies potential Professional Services at whatever price they can get for their expertise.  For the thousands of Microsoft Partners that are already supporting small companies in the 1-4 user range, they imagine that there’s no CRM option out there for their clients.  But as we will see below, they would be wrong.

Leaving Money on the Table

So what is being left behind here, when the Microsoft Partner throws up their hands and gives up on recommending Microsoft Dynamics CRM to their small business clients?  Well, first is the commission they would receive for selling the monthly seats of Microsoft Dynamics CRM at $65/user/month.  That’s not going to buy your Lamborghini, but it’s a sight better than the commission for Office 365 Business Essentials, that’s for sure. But way beyond that – is the Professional Services.  Because to be honest, people don’t need a LOT of help with creating formulas in Excel, or how to set up their Outlook mailboxes, but CRM?  Yeah … they need help.  So the Partner is walking away from a great opportunity in not investigating the possibility of avenues by which they can effectively advise on and assist with Microsoft Dynamics CRM implementations for small businesses of 1-4 users that they are already helping.

This begs the question “How?”  That is, how can a Microsoft Partner sell 1-4 seats of Microsoft Dynamics CRM when Microsoft itself demands at least 5 users at $65/user/month for part of their Office 365 Suite? The answer – by finding a Partner who:

1. Offers Microsoft Dynamics CRM with a 1-user minimum. (Yes, this exists – SPLA Licensing)
2. Has Partner Program
3. Gets out of the way so you can capture Professional Services

You would be forgiven if you felt that this scenario doesn’t exist, and we admit that it’s hard to find.  But we know of at least one – xRM. This is a company that has developed a way for the multitude of Microsoft Partners interested in providing their clients with hosting for Microsoft Dynamics CRM along with their Office 365 subscriptions at the smallest of levels – as low as a single seat.

So, if Partners are looking to capture Professional Services revenue for Microsoft Dynamics CRM implementation for small businesses, there is an avenue.

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